The Making of Advent Children
by HawkfrostsAvenger
Summary: The characters of the Compilation all crowded the sets, their only goal to please the Director. Should anyone cause trouble, the series is in danger. But Cloud, the lead role, can't seem to do anything right... Rated T to be safe. Old, may be rewritten.
1. Chapter 1

Cloud's sword clanged against Masume, sending several blue sparks flying from the blades. "Tell me what you cherish most," Sephiroth said as he leapt backwards. "Give me the pleasure of taking it way." There was a long silence, followed by the laughing of the camera-wielding man that was filming them.

"Cut!" the Director hissed, throwing his borrowed megaphone back at Cait Sith. "Cloud, this is the seventeenth time we shot this scene! Get your act together!"

"Sorry…"

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it, Spiky."

"Go easy on him; I think he's still recovering from his 'mako poisoning'," Sephiroth said teasingly. "Remember?"

The Director clapped Cloud on the shoulder before walking away. "I'll be working with Rufus and Kadaj," he announced. "You'd better have your lines memorized by tomorrow."

Cloud nodded half-heartedly, turning to his silver-haired coworker once the Director had gone. "You have no right to be making fun of me. Don't you remember the incident in scene 21 when we were filming the original game?"

"I told you not to bring that up, 'Vegetable'."

"Shut up."

Immaturely, Sephiroth stuck his tongue out at Cloud. They both started laughing, loudly enough that they didn't notice Zack when he joined them. "Hey guys! What's up?" he called.

"Oh, hey Zack."

"Just helping Cloud practice his lines," Sephiroth said.

"Yeah right, like you two would practice without the Director standing over your shoulder."

"True, true. Just don't tell him that, okay?"

"But none the less, Cloud does need to practice or the Director might actually go through with… you know."

Being "fired" was a terrible thought amongst the cast. As they were the characters written into the story themselves, if one person was fired the Compilation itself would be threatened. And without a job in their own series, what else could a fictional character do? The fate of the entire cast was in each individual's hands.

Because of this, angering the Director wasn't in anyone's best interest. But his short temper made pleasing him quite difficult at times.

"Right. I'll see you guys around then. Good luck," Zack said, his expression becoming quite serious as he turned and walked off.

The sound of the other cast members as they practiced their lines and chatted amongst themselves made focusing quite difficult for Cloud. He had always had trouble memorizing his lines- in fact, he was almost positive that the only reason they'd finished VII itself was because of its lack of speaking.

"Hey, Gaia to Cloud," Sephiroth called loudly, waving his hand in front of Cloud's face. He snapped quickly back to reality.

"Sorry."

"Now then, you really need to work on scene 17; you've done that one at least twenty times."

"Right. Which one is that again?"

Sephiroth handed Cloud his script and pointed to scene 17. "That one, remember?"

"Yeah."

"Finally," the Director muttered in exasperation. "You've been working on this scene for two hours!"

Rufus frowned. "Please keep in mind, sir, that I was in fact leaping off a building while firing at… Jenova," he said, glancing at the box Kadaj was holding.

"That's still too long to work on such a short scene."

Rufus and Kadaj too were exasperated. Or rather, the entire cast was. Maybe a change in directors would help them, if even but a little.

A/N: A somewhat random idea, I know. This is somewhat based on an RP between my sister and I while I was beating VII for the first time, where all of the characters were simply paid actors. It was going to be a crack fic at first, but it turned out better than I was planning.

Please review!

I don't own this, btw. D: Sadly… ;;


	2. Chapter 2

Cloud's heart raced as he stood before the camera crew and the Director. Sephiroth visibly tensed as he waited for him to recite his lines, praying to Jenova that he would remember.

Zack, who stood behind the Director, sighed silently with relief when he flawlessly finished the scene. "Cut!"

Cloud and Sephiroth both lowered their weapons, turning to the Director hopefully. "You spent entirely too long on this scene," the Director spat. It was… unsettling when he spoke, like there was some dark force hiding inside of him. "You're on my last nerve, Cloud. Mess up again and you guys can kiss the Compilation good-bye."

The shady man stood up, stalking away and leaving the three actors with his threat echoing in their minds. The camera crew groaned as they followed him, staying as far away as they could without being in a different room entirely.

Cloud fought to keep a straight face. _'Great,'_ he thought. _'The entire series is resting on _my _shoulders…'_

Zack clapped his friend on the shoulder, flinching as his hand hit one of the rounded points on his shoulder pad. "Don't… worry," he said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, we'll get through this movie. And who knows? We might even get to make that new game that the Creator mentioned."

"Don't hold your breath, Sephiroth. Because of me I bet the whole series will be scrapped."

Zack frowned. "Don't talk like that. If they trash VII, they'll have to make a sequel to VIII."

All three of them started laughing. "I can't see Squall doing another unvoiced game, let alone one where he actually _has_ to speak."

Rufus climbed out of his wheelchair, tossing the white blanket he had used to cover his face to the side dramatically. He held the box of Jenova cells in one hand and Kadaj stared in pure horror.

"A good son would have known." Rufus smiled cruelly.

They finished the scene flawlessly- and since they had only been working for about twenty minutes, the Director almost sounded pleased with their work. "Good job. After your lunch break, we'll work on your introductory scene."

The two actors nodded and walked off to go see how Cloud and Sephiroth were doing. Zack waved as they approached, calling, "Hey guys!" enthusiastically.

Rufus nodded in acknowledgement. "So Cloud, how did your scene go?" There was a long pause filled only by the sound of the other actors' footsteps as they rushed to the front doors of the studio.

"The Director's still not happy…"

Kadaj opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by a message on the intercom:

"_Cloud Strife, report to the Director's office."_


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud's mind raced as he walked down the long hallway toward the Director's office. He could already taste the venom of the harsh man's words, and he could smell his foul breath creeping up to him as he approached the door. His heart seemed to beat in time with the pounding percussion of "Advent One Winged Angel" as the orchestra rehearsed.

His hand trembled as he reached for the doorknob. He turned it slowly, the darkness emanating from the man inside burning through his glove and singeing his flesh.

As the door slid open, the Director, who was positioned behind a large wooden desk, gestured for him to enter. "Ah, Cloud, thank you for joining us."

Cloud nearly cried out with joy as he realized that the Creator too was here. The Director was never nearly as frightening when his creator was there to defend his other characters.

In truth, the Director was simply another of his creations. Just like the other crew members, he would be useless without his job in the Compilation.

"Have a seat," the Creator said, waving his hand towards one of the chairs. He obediently sat down, staring warily at the Director. "Now then, I've been told that you are causing a few… problems."

"Um… well, I've been having some trouble with my lines," Cloud admitted.

The Creator began laughing. "Come now, Director. Be reasonable; Cloud simply needs a bit of extra help, nothing more."

"Of course, sir." The Director spat his words distastefully, turning away slightly as if to hide his obvious disapproval.

"Now then, if there's nothing more to discuss I must be going." The Creator stood up, leaning closer to Cloud. "And Cloud, please remember to practice your lines." He lowered his voice even more to add, "We wouldn't want to anger the Director again, now would we?" before walking to the door.

A knot formed in Cloud's stomach as he placed his hand on the doorknob and the Director spoke. "It was a…-" he hesitated for a moment-"_pleasure_, sir." The venom in his words burned inside the actor's head. How could someone speak with such a harsh tone to the Creator, the one who had given life to the entire Compilation and its crew?

He shook the thought from his head, following the Creator out of the malicious air of the office. _'I bet if I hurry I can still catch up with Sephiroth and Zack for lunch.'_

_AN/ Another short chapter… I tend to write short things like this more often than long chapters, so please bear with me ^^; (I also tend to overuse deviantART style emoticons ( :iconyayzplz: like that) which only work on dA… XD XD If I do that, please ignore it lolz) I don't own VII~_


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